The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to monitoring particles and, more particularly, to monitoring exposure to small particles, such as nanoparticles, using miniaturized personal devices.
Particles in the submicron and nanometer size range have been reported in the exhausts of different combustion sources, chemical processes and aerosol reactors. Examples include the exhausts of diesel and jet engines, the emission from coal-combustion power plants, and welding fumes. Such nanoparticulate matter is considered environmental pollution, and thus harmful. Separately, many modern industrial applications have begun to utilize nanoparticles as part of a growing technology. For example, the photocatalysis of nano-sized TiO2 has been proposed or implemented for many practical applications including bacteria sterilization, oxidation of soot particles, decomposition of kitchen oils, super-hydrophilic surface coating, and hydrogen production. Nanoparticles of different materials are synthesized in chemical reactors for a variety of modern industrial, and are the building blocks for the recent national initiative in nanotechnology in the United States. Meanwhile, the number of scientific publications on the toxicity of newly synthesized nanoparticles is increasing. Workers in current and future nanotechnology-related manufacturing facilities are increasingly likely to be exposed to nanoparticles. Low-cost, miniaturized personal devices for monitoring exposure to nanoparticles are lacking in the art.